Torchwood: Remembrance
by DoctorWhoFan1990
Summary: When an alien race from Jack's past arrives in Cardiff, can Tosh save the day before the Earth is destroyed?
1. Prologue

Night loomed over Cardiff. Most of its citizens were warm in their beds, totally unaware of the storm raging over the city. But this was no ordinary thunder storm; this was the work of the Mystics. They used the energy created during thunder storms to sniff out their prey.

They had traveled across time and space for many centuries to find their bounty: a man known only as Captain Jack Harkness, and they would stop at nothing to find him. Not after what he'd done to them. They would exact bloody revenge on him.

The Mystics' hatred for Jack was the one thing that had kept the race going-saving them from destruction in the Time War, though their home planet was long gone...or their mystical powers told them. If Jack hadn't destroyed their way of life the Mystics might have been able to survive the war.

The Mystics would destroy the planet Earth, but not until Jack Harkness suffered the way that their race had. That was a promise....


	2. Chapter 1

One

Toshiko Sato was never late for work. In the five years she had worked for Torchwood she had never been late once, and today would not be any different. Because there had been a power outage some time after she had gone to bed the night before, her alarm had not gone off at its proper time-luckily for Toshiko, her mobile's alarm served as a back up in case of such emergencies. Unfortunately, her mobile's alarm was set for ten minutes after her regular alarm; thus she was ten minutes later that she's planned and had been unable to stop and get a bite to eat before going into work, luckily, Gwen had mentioned bringing in croissants for the team.

As Toshiko entered the Tourist Information Centre that served as the front entrance into the Torchwood Hub, she saw Ianto sitting behind his desk, perusing a stack of flyers advertising live performances by bands such as Blue Gillespie, whom Toshiko had never heard of. "Good morning Ianto." Toshiko said, smiling kindly at her colleague.

Ianto gasped, and the stack of flyers he had been holding flew around the room, landing scattered all over the floor. Apparently, Ianto had not heard Toshiko quietly entering the shop. "Why are you always so quiet Tosh!" Ianto teasingly reprimanded her, stooping to pick up the spilt flyers.

"Sorry Ianto, it's just my nature I suppose." Toshiko responded, helping Ianto sort out the mess. "Is anyone else in yet?" she asked, handing a stack of pamphlets to Ianto before gathering together another.

"Jack was here earlier, but he left...seemed to be in a hurry. The others haven't arrived yet." Ianto answered, putting all of the flyers into a big pile and setting them on his desk. "He left you a note by your desk." Ianto added, smiling at Tosh.

"Really? What about?" she asked, puzzled.

"I didn't read it." Ianto pointed out, smiling even wider as he tapped the button under his desk that allowed entrance into the Hub.

"Right." Toshiko nodded at Ianto and entered the long corridor that would take her to the lift.

As she reached the Hub, the cogwheel door slid to the side to allow her entry and the metal gate doors parted. Toshiko was shocked that the Hub's lighting system was off, Jack had been there, and since when did he care about wasting electricity? Toshiko turned left and went to the circuit system, turning on the lights. Immediately, the Hub was illuminated.

Going up the steps to her workstation, Toshiko turned her computer on and set it to scan for Rift activity. She found the note, scrawled in Jack's familiar handwriting:

Tosh, when you arrive at work, I would like you to monitor the Rift activity as per usual. I would also like you to check the Torchwood archives and databases over the past 129 years for any strange occurrences involving religious sects. Include all denominations. Thanks,

Jack

Tosh set the note aside and put her glasses on. Looking at her bank of computer monitors she checked the Rift activity detection program that she had developed to quicken the process. Apparently the Rift activity around Wales was no more or less than its usual level, so she closed the program.

Sitting down in her chair, Toshiko quickly reread the note from Jack and began completing the tasks he had asked of her.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gwen Cooper had woken up late that morning. Because of the power loss, her alarm had not gone off as planned and both she and Rhys had overslept. Luckily, Rhys had gotten a call from his best friend Banana Boat and had been able to leave the flat in time to be only a few minutes late for work- not that Jack would care...necessarily.

She opened the door to the Tourist Information Centre awkwardly. She had promised the team that she would bring in croissants one day and had figured that Jack wouldn't be quite as cross with her if she brought in one of his favorites. Inside, she spotted Ianto, sitting behind his desk. "Morning Ianto" Gwen, grinning widely.

"Morning" Ianto replied, standing up and opening the door for Gwen as she had her hands full.

"Thanks. How did you get here on time? The power was out last night?" Gwen asked, stepping into the corridor."

"Oh..., I, uh, stayed here last night." Ianto said hurriedly, avoiding making eye contact with Gwen.

"I see..." Gwen said, deciding that if it made Ianto uncomfortable, it was not worth upsetting him. "Is Jack in?" she asked.

"Not at the moment, no. He should be back later." Ianto said, glad that Gwen had changed the subject.

"Well, I guess Jack won't get his croissant, then. Thanks Ianto." Gwen said, closing the door and heading down the corridor to the lift.

Once out of the lift, she entered the Hub and saw that only Toshiko was there. And as usual, Tosh was deep into her work, not even noticing that Gwen was there. "Morning Tosh!" Gwen said brightly, handing her a croissant."

"Good morning Gwen." Toshiko said distractedly.

"I brought you a croissant, as I promised." Gwen added, noticing that Tosh had yet to register the warm breakfast food.

"Oh, right. Thanks." Toshiko said, finally looking away from her computer and seeing Gwen for the first time.

"You're welcome. Have you heard from Owen or Jack?" Gwen asked, setting her belongings down on the workstation next to Toshiko's, the one that had previously belonged to Owen.

"Not Owen. I got a note from Jack asking me to go through the Torchwood archives and databases over the past 129 years that involve religious sects of all denominations." Toshiko replied, removing her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Anything I can do to help?" Gwen inquired, logging on to her computer.

"No, thanks...I'm just feeling a little off today. Must be that storm last night." Tosh said, replacing her glasses and getting back to work.

Gwen knew exactly what Toshiko meant.....

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Owen Harper had been late for work plenty of times. There was one time that he hadn't even showed up for work; it had been his second week working for Torchwood and he'd gone out the night before for a few drinks, which turned into too many drinks. The next day, the hang over from hell had convinced him to shut his mobile off and stay home, making Tosh have to cover for him by posing as a medic, the famous 'Space Pig' incident.

Now that Owen was a dead man walking, he had no use for sleep, and alcohol had no affect on him any more, so instead his spent his nights wandering the streets of Cardiff. Which also meant that he had no reason to late for work anymore.

He entered the Tourist Information Centre and noticed that Ianto was no where to be found. _Hmmm, he and Jack are probably shagging right about now....Oh well, they'll just have to take it somewhere else. I've got work to do._ Owen thought, exiting the lift and stepping foot into the Hub. Toshiko and Gwen were already working.

As Owen made his way to the Autopsy Room, he noticed that Toshiko did not even acknowledge his presence. _That's weird. Usually she's making puppy dog eyes at me._ He thought, going down the concrete steps to his new workstation.

Last night, he had finished putting away the body of a victim of a Weevil attack. He had decided to head home for the night and finish the paperwork the next day. Just as he was about to begin on said paperwork, he heard footsteps. Looking up, he saw Ianto carrying a cup of coffee. "I know it doesn't do you much good, but I thought you could use some coffee." Ianto said, handing Owen the warm mug.

"Cheers." Owen said, taking of sip of the warm beverage and feeling nothing.

Taking this as his cue to leave, Ianto turned, and made his way back up the concrete steps into the main Hub area. Owen watched Ianto leave and then took another sip of his coffee. _God, what I wouldn't give to taste Ianto's coffee again!_ Owen thought, wishing he had gotten a hangover and not reported for work the day that Torchwood and Martha Jones had infiltrated the Pharm...that was the day that he had been shot and killed, the worse day of his life.

After a few more moments of self pity, Owen drank some more coffee and set to work on filling out the paper work on their John Doe. He had filled out some papers so often that he could pretty much do it without thinking. The answers were all the same, all that had to be changed was the date and such. _I don't know how much longer I can go on like this_ Owen thought, wishing, not for the first time, that Death had permanently taken him.


	3. Chapter 2

Two

Toshiko was totally immersed in the Torchwood files. Over the course of the five years that she had worked for Torchwood, she had gone through the files on many occasions. One thing she never got used to though, was the immensity of the files, which dated back to the creation of the Torchwood Institute in 1879 by Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria.

In her studies, Toshiko had found a few mentions of the mysterious man known only as "the Doctor". Jack's friend, the one that he had left them to travel with. Actually, Toshiko had met the Doctor during the "Space Pig" incident, though she did not know it at the time. Besides Jack, she was the only other member of Torchwood Three to actually meet the Doctor!

Regarding her research, Tosh found that the largest religion is Wales was Christianity, followed by Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, and Judaism. Jack had not been totally clear about what to look for concerning the different religious denominations of Wales.

Deciding the take a break before getting a migraine from staring at her computer monitors for too long, Toshiko removed her glasses and walked down to the Autopsy Room, where Owen would surely be working on a cadaver or trying out new alien medical technology.

Sure enough, there he was, filling out paperwork and drinking coffee. Tosh stopped at the top of the stairs and watched him for a moment- building up the courage to talk to him.

Ever since the day that Owen Harper had joined Torchwood Three, Toshiko had been madly in love with him. To her dismay, he remained utterly oblivious- at least until after he'd died and come back to life. But while alive, Owen had slept with Suzie Costello, Gwen Cooper, and every other woman in Cardiff who wasn't Toshiko Sato.

While this pained her, Toshiko's sense of professionalism allowed her to carry on with seeing him day after day and not breaking down.

"Hey Owen." she said, going down the steps to stand next to him. Owen looked up from his paperwork and looked at her.

"Hey Tosh. Aren't you supposed to be going through the archives, or something?" Owen asked, taking another drink from his coffee.

"Yes. Jack asked me to look through the archives for incidents involving religious sects...but there are so many on file and he wasn't very specific about what I should be looking for. So, I thought I'd take a break and see how things were going with you." Toshiko said, blushing slightly.

Owen stared at Toshiko for a few moments, making her very uncomfortable. "Well, I'd better get back to work, then." Toshiko said, turning.

"Tosh, wait. I'm sorry. You've been so good to me during this whole dead man walking affair. It's just...I having a hard time dealing with it and I..."

"Don't worry about it Owen." Toshiko interrupted briskly, hurrying up the stairs to her workstation.

Hot tears streamed down her face and she quickly wiped them away. _Why do I keep setting myself up to get hurt!?_ Toshiko wondered. _Because I love him. No matter what else happens, I will always love him._

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Captain Jack Harkness had seen many things over the course of his life...Traveling with the Doctor and Rose, and later Martha; living his normal life in the 51st Century; his work with the Time Agency; traveling back to the 1800's and living through present-day while trying not to create a paradox by crossing his time line.

Staying in Cardiff didn't reward him with the same adventure that traveling through time and space with the Doctor did, but it still gave him enough action to keep him satisfied.

After a night of vigorous 'naked hide and seek' around the Hub, Jack had been awoken by the sound of the severe storm striking Cardiff. Careful not to wake Ianto, Jack crept into the main Hub area and checked for Rift activity.

Normally, Jack wouldn't check for such things, but for some reason, this storm just felt...wrong somehow. And if there was one thing that Jack was an expert on it was strange phenomenon.

Leaving the Hub before the sun had risen, Jack decided to take a walk. He'd checked for Rift activity, but nothing out of the ordinary had showed up. Still, something was definitely wrong, Jack could feel it his gut. Hopefully Tosh would be able to discern what was wrong when she checked Rift activity and did the searches he had asked her to do.

After a few hours of just walking the streets of Cardiff, searching his memory for clues as to why the storm had bothered him, Jack's mobile rang.

Without looking at the caller I.D., Jack knew who was calling. "Gwen Cooper. What can I do for you?" he asked, grinning widely.

"Jack, where are you?" Gwen asked, all business. _Oh wow. Hope she and Rhys are having marital problems already_. Jack though.

"I'm just up the street. Why?" he asked, dread settling into the pit of this stomach.

"Tosh has gone through the archives." Gwen replied.

"And?" Jack asked, a little impatiently.

"Well, she hasn't exactly found anything yet. There is some much information to go through. Can you narrow it down at all?" Gwen asked.

"Hold on, I'll be right there." Jack said, hanging up.

As quickly as possible, Jack returned to the Hub. The reason that he had been so vague in the his note to Toshiko was that he had no idea what to look for. He felt like he should know what was happening...but he didn't.

Once inside, he noticed that Gwen and Toshiko were sitting together at Tosh's workstation and Ianto was handing out coffee. "Ah Jack." Gwen said, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes. I'm back." he replied, smiling at Ianto suggestively. Ianto nodded and headed to Jack's office quietly.

"We need you to narrow it down Jack. There is so much information in the archives that we could all spends years searching through and never find an answer." Gwen insisted.

"What is this all about, anyway?" Toshiko piped up.

"That's the thing-I don't know." Jack confessed.

"What?" Toshiko replied, utter shock on her face.

"Ever since that storm last night I've had a bad feeling...but I checked for Rift activity early this morning and nothing out of the ordinary showed up."

"The same thing happened when I checked it a few hours ago." Toshiko said.

"And for some reason I just feel that something is wrong...something I should remember." Jack continued, trying with all of his might to remember....when he had worked for the Time Agency, they had removed two years of his life from this memory...could this be something that had been erased?

Jack was shaken out of his reverie by Gwen's hand on his shoulder. He noticed that Toshiko was also looking at him with concern etched on her face.

"I'm fine...seriously." Jack insisted, hoping that he was right.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Mystics' plan had been set into motion. They could sense that Jack Harkness was on edge...but this was only the beginning. The trap had been set, and Jack would surely go for the bait. Only the mystics knew what was in store for Captain Jack Harkness and his idiotic Torchwood...


	4. Chapter 3

Three

Ianto Jones was growing impatient. Jack had smiled suggestively at him - a usual sign for some 'naked hide and seek' or something involving a stopwatch...but it had been twenty minutes and Jack had still not shown up. _Have I misread the smile?_ Ianto wondered to himself, absentmindedly tidying up Jack's office.

_Has he tired of me already? I'll have to quit. I couldn't stand seeing him everyday after he tossed me aside for someone else, especially since the whole team knows about it now._ Ianto's mind was going frantic. Ianto knew for a fact that he loved Jack, but he didn't know for a fact that Jack loved him, not in the same way anyway. Jack wasn't really the monogamous type, and while Ianto could see the fun of a little fling, he wanted Jack all to himself. Was that too much to ask?

Jack entered the office and spotted Ianto, who continued to straighten the papers on Jack's desk. "Ianto, just the man I wanted to see." Jack said, coming up to stand behind Ianto and putting a hand on his shoulder. Ianto shrugged Jack's hand off of his shoulder and continued his task. Surprised, and a little hurt, Jack asked "What's wrong Ianto?"

"Nothing, sir." Ianto replied coldly, still not looking at Jack.

"So I'm sir again now. I can work with that." Jack joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

Ianto finished straightening Jack's desk and turned to leave. "Ianto wait. Please, just tell me what I did." Jack said, pleading with Ianto.

"It's just...I thought what we had was special that's all. Obviously you just wanted a little bit of fun." Ianto said, eyes downcast.

"Well, yeah, I wanted a bit of fun, but I care about you Ianto." Jack replied, walking over to Ianto and wrapping his arms around him.

Ianto was powerless against Jack's charms and smiled. "I know. I'm just a little moody today, I didn't get much sleep last night." he said.

"I remember." Jack said, flashing his heart melting smile.

Suddenly, the door to Jack's office opened and Gwen walked in. "Sorry to interrupt boys, but there's been a murder in the city centre." she said, coat on and ready to go.

"All right, we'll be right there." Jack said, and Gwen nodded and headed towards the invisible lift. "Are we cool?" Jack asked Ianto, wanting to resolve the issue before they left.

"Yes Jack." Ianto replied, giving Jack a peck on the cheek before leading him out to where Gwen was waiting.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Torchwood SUV pulled up the crime scene. Thankfully, the sun was shining and the evidence of the previous night's storms had been cleared away. The team exited the vehicle and walked toward the body, which was surrounded by police officers. Gwen was shocked to see that her old partner Andy Davidson was not present at the scene of crime.

"Torchwood, clear the scene." Jack said, knowing that the police would grudgingly oblige. As the scene was cleared, Owen opened up his equipment case and began to examine the body. "What do we know?" Jack asked.

"The body is male, age approximately thirty-two years old. Death appears to be caused by a severe blow to the head." Owen diagnosed, glad that he could still practice medicine in his current state.

"Jack you should see this." Toshiko said nervously, tapping Jack on the shoulder.

What Jack saw cooled his blood. Around the corner from the body written in blood were the words 'Eye for an eye Captain Jack Harkness_.' _

"Who could've done that?" Toshiko asked, aware that the enemy list of Torchwood was extremely long. Strangely, the note was for Jack specifically, not Torchwood.

"I don't know Tosh." Jack replied, staring at the words. Was this a payback for something Torchwood had done? Or was this a personal vendetta against Jack himself?

Gwen rounded the corner and noticed the message. "Eye for an eye Captain Jack Harkness. What does that mean Jack?" she asked, hoping that Jack would have at least an inkling as to what was happening.

"He doesn't know." Toshiko replied, so that Jack wouldn't have to repeat himself.

"What are we going to do?" Gwen asked, begging Jack to take charge.

"Owen, pack the body up. We're going back to the Hub." Jack ordered, even more confused than he'd been earlier.

"On it boss." Owen replied.

"Jack, tell me what's going on!" Gwen insisted.

"I can't!" Jack replied angrily.

" Yes you can!" Gwen persisted.

"I can't, because I have no idea!" Jack confessed.

Speechless, Gwen stared at Jack for a long time. Jack always had an answer when they were in trouble, and the fact that he was clueless in this case utterly shocked Gwen. What would they do? _We're fucked without Jack. _Gwen thought, heaving a heavy sigh.

The team got back into the SUV, but Jack did not start the vehicle right away.

He was lost in thought, trying the remember. It was driving him insane! He felt like he should know what was happening, but he couldn't. For once in his very, very long life, Jack Harkness was completely helpless - and the didn't like it one bit.

Owen, sitting in the passenger seat, suggested that someone else drive back to the Hub. "Can I drive?" Toshiko piped up from the back, pleading with her eyes.

"We've been over this Tosh, you will never drive as long I have a say." Owen replied drily, getting out of the car.

Jack moved over to the passenger side and Owen got into the driver's seat. Without another moments hesitation, Owen started the vehicle and put it in drive.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back at the Hub, Owen examined the corpse further. The victim had indeed died as a result of a severe head wound, exactly as he had thought. Upon inspecting the cadaver's clothes, Owen found a driver's license that identified the body as that of Bryan Myles, 32 years old.

Gwen watched Owen work from above, her mind busy at work trying to figure out who could have done such a thing. Torchwood had an infinite number of enemies, but Jack had even more. If only he'd open up to her! Just then, Gwen's mobile went off. "Hello." She said, hoping that it was Rhys and not her mother calling to nag her about when she'd pop by for a visit.

"Hello love." Rhys answered, and Gwen could hear the smile in his voice.

"What's up?" Gwen asked, trepidation already setting in.

"Well, I thought maybe we could order in a pizza tonight, I know how much you love it." Rhys replied.

"We'll see. There's been a murder and I don't know if I can leave early. Let me talk to Jack and I'll phone you right back, okay?" Gwen said, hoping beyond hope that Rhys would forgive her once again.

"Oh."

"Rhys, I said let my talk to Jack and I'll phone you right back. Please don't make me feel worse that I already do." Gwen pleaded.

"All right love, call me back."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."

Gwen hung up the phone and walked back into the main Hub area. Toshiko was working hard at her computer, and Ianto was off feeding Myfanwy, the pteranodon. She made to her way to Jack's office and found him staring off into space. Concernedly, Gwen was about to put her hand on his shoulder, when Jack said "I'm not keeping anything from you Gwen."

Surprised, Gwen looked at Jack for several moments before replying. "Then why don't you tell me who did this?"

"Because I can't remember."

"What?" Gwen asked, incredulously.

"It must be something that occurred during the two years that the Time Agency erased from my memory." Jack answered bitterly.

"I see." Gwen replied, wishing she could think of something better to say.

"Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight. Why don't you go home to Rhys and eat your pizza." Jack said.

"How?-"

"Just go." Jack said with finality.

Grateful for the opportunity to leave work early and spend some time with her husband, Gwen thanked Jack and exited Jack's office. On her way out, she called goodnight to Toshiko, Ianto, and Owen, and exited the Hub.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dead body had been planted by the Mystics to get into Torchwood and to warn Jack Harkness. They had been watching from inside the corpse when the Torchwood team and had been shocked when Jack claimed to have no idea who had killed the boy. Of course he knew who'd done it! The Mystics made sure that he would have no doubt about the identity of the culprits. Well, he would surely know soon enough.


End file.
